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Joseph Smith and the Criminal Justice System

Joseph Smith and the Criminal Justice System

Between 1826 and 1844, JS participated in approximately thirty-eight criminal prosecutions in , , , and . His roles in these cases varied. In thirteen cases, he was the complainant. He was named as a defendant in twenty-one cases, in two he served as a witness, and in two others he was involved as an interested third party. Most of JS’s criminal cases resulted from conflicts that resulted from his religious position and influence. Even as disestablishment inaugurated religious liberty in , it also created a hostile environment for churches—such as the Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—that did not conform to prevailing assumptions governing proper religious belief, behavior, and structure. American Protestants sought to circumscribe the power of the clergy, locating authority instead in the laity. They were suspicious of the concentration of power in religious leaders and ecclesiastical direction of economic and political behavior. As the number of Latter-day Saints grew, JS’s direction of the church’s finances, political activity, and centralized settlement practices resulted in increasing legal and extralegal conflict with antagonists.

JS’s criminal cases were heard in multiple courts. Most cases were initiated before who were authorized to conduct preliminary examinations to determine whether there was sufficient evidence against the accused to send the case to trial before the county-level court; depending on the state, this court was known as either the court of common pleas or the circuit court.

An Act Defining the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace and Constables, in Criminal Cases [11 Mar. 1831], Acts of a General Nature, pp. 194–195, secs. 1–7; Practice and Proceedings in Criminal Cases [21 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of Missouri, p. 472, art. 1, sec. 1; pp. 476–477, art. 2, secs. 13–22; An Act to Extend the Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace [29 Dec. 1826], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 414–415, sec. 1; Ohio Constitution of 1802, art. 3, sec. 3; An Act to Establish Judicial Districts and Circuits, and Prescribe the Times and Places of Holding Courts [17 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 163, sec. 15; An Act to Establish Circuit Courts [23 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], pp. 103–105, 108, secs. 1, 4, 9, 18.

Comprehensive Works Cited

Acts of a General Nature, Enacted, Revised and Ordered to Be Reprinted, at the First Session of the Twenty-Ninth General Assembly of the State of Ohio. Columbus: Olmsted and Bailhache, 1831.

The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly during the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. . . . St. Louis: Argus Office, 1835.

The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

Ohio Constitution, 1802. Ohio History Connection.

The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 2nd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1840.

Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.

Under the act incorporating the city of , Illinois, commonly known as the , the mayor and acted as justices of the peace within the city, with authority under state law to hold preliminary examinations for alleged violations of state statutes. In addition, the mayor and aldermen—either sitting alone in their individual courts or together as the Nauvoo Municipal Court—were authorized to hear complaints that city ordinances had allegedly been violated. Individuals convicted of breaching ordinances before the mayor’s or aldermen’s courts could appeal their convictions, first to the municipal court and from there to the circuit court.

The majority of JS’s criminal cases, both those he initiated as a complainant and those in which he was a defendant, resulted from conflicts with his antagonists. On three occasions in , in 1826 and twice in 1830, he was charged with being a disorderly person for his use of while in the employ of in 1825–1826. The latter two cases were brought by Protestant ministers and others who were opposed to the church. In 1834, JS accused former Latter-day Saint of threatening his life. Another antagonist, , brought an charge against JS in 1835 before a justice of the peace following an altercation between JS and his brother-in-law . Two years later, Newell alleged that JS had hired two men to assassinate him. , Ohio, justices of the peace held preliminary examinations to evaluate these allegations and in each case sent them to the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas for trial.

Legal tension with antagonists continued after JS relocated to in the late 1830s. Following violent clashes between church members and their opponents in Missouri in summer and fall 1838, Missouri governor ordered the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the state and the imprisonment of JS and a few others during winter 1838–1839 on charges stemming from the conflict. In April 1839, grand juries in , , and counties indicted JS and dozens of other Latter-day Saints on charges of and several other crimes. However, JS and other indicted church members escaped, evidently with the acquiescence of Missouri officials, before these cases advanced to trial in the respective circuit courts.

After JS and the Saints established themselves in , Illinois, officials made three attempts to have him apprehended and to answer charges related to the earlier conflict. JS was arrested in June 1841, but after appearing on a writ of before judge in the Warren County, Illinois, circuit court, JS was discharged on the grounds that the warrant was invalid. The following year, Missouri officials again sought JS’s extradition, this time for allegedly being an to the May 1842 shooting of former governor . After going into hiding to avoid arrest in late summer and fall, JS appeared before the United States Circuit Court for the District of Illinois in January 1843 on a writ of habeas corpus. Judge discharged JS on the grounds that the evidence supplied by the Missouri government was insufficient to justify the extradition. Finally, in June 1843 Missouri officials again sought JS’s extradition to answer an indictment charging him with committing treason in 1838. On 1 July 1843, the Nauvoo Municipal Court discharged JS on a writ of habeas corpus “on the merits of the case.”

JS was also involved in criminal proceedings stemming from events that occurred in . He filed complaints in courts accusing multiple individuals of violating city ordinances by threatening or otherwise harming him. At the May 1844 term of the , Illinois, circuit court, a approved two indictments against JS—for adultery and fornication and for —based on testimony from former Latter-day Saints and other opponents. The following month, on 10 June, the Nauvoo City Council, which included JS as mayor, declared the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper operated by his antagonists, a nuisance and ordered its destruction. One of the Expositor’s proprietors, , filed a complaint before a Hancock County justice of the peace accusing JS and other Latter-day Saints of committing riot. When vigilantes threatened to attack Nauvoo, JS called out the and declared martial law in the city. Evidently based on this action, , one of JS’s critics, filed a complaint before a justice of the peace alleging that he had committed treason, a nonbailable offense that confined him to the Hancock County jail at the time of his murder.

JS’s criminal cases had mixed outcomes. Six of the thirteen cases he initiated with a complaint resulted in a court ruling supporting his claims, although four of those decisions were subsequently reversed on appeal or dismissed. The remaining seven cases initiated by JS either were dismissed for lack of evidence or did not progress to trial. Most of the twenty-one criminal cases brought against JS resulted in a discharge for lack of evidence or dismissal before trial. The Court of Common Pleas acquitted JS in the two cases brought against him by in the 1830s. JS was unambiguously convicted in only one of the twenty-one cases in which he was a defendant, when he insisted in 1843 that a justice of the peace fine him for assaulting the tax collector. The outcome of the 1826 disorderly person trial before a justice of the peace is uncertain due to the lack of contemporaneous documentation and conflicting later accounts. In all, JS’s thirty-eight criminal cases made up approximately 20 percent of the total number of cases he was involved in.

For criminal cases over which JS presided as a judge in , see the Joseph Smith as a Judge finding aid. For civil lawsuits in which he participated, see Joseph Smith and Civil Litigation.

JS as Complainant

State of Ohio v. D. P. Hurlbut, Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, 9 April 1834

State of Ohio v. Ritch, Kirtland Township, OH, Justice of the Peace Court, 14 September 1837

State of Illinois v. Unknown Defendant, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 19 June 1840

City of Nauvoo v. Markham, Nauvoo, IL, Mayor’s Court, 9 November 1841

City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–A, Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court, 10 March 1842

State of Illinois v. C. L. Higbee, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, ca. September 1842

City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–B, Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court, 30 November 1842

City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–C, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, 23 May 1843

City of Nauvoo v. Hunter, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, 23 May 1843

State of Illinois v. Dayley and McMellin, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 17 June 1843

State of Illinois v. Elliott–B, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 18 December 1843

State of Illinois v. Eagle–B, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 22 December 1843

State of Illinois v. Sympson, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 17 January 1844

JS as Defendant

State of New York v. JS–A, Chenango Co., NY, Justice of the Peace Court, 20 March 1826

State of New York v. JS–B, Chenango Co., NY, Justice of the Peace Court, 29 June 1830

State of New York v. JS–C, Broome Co., NY, Justice of the Peace Court, 30 June 1830

State of Ohio v. JS for Assault and Battery, Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, 20 June 1835

State of Ohio v. JS for Threatening to Take Life, Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, 10 June 1837

State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Riot, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. Gates et al. for Treason, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. Baldwin, Morrison, Higbee, Marsh, Wight, Brunson, JS, Hunter, and Pratt for Arson, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. Gates et al. for Arson, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. Worthington, Lott, JS, and Wight for Larceny, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. JS for Receiving Stolen Goods, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

State of Missouri v. Pratt, Gibbs, M. Phelps, JS, Wight, and Rigdon for Murder, Boone Co., MO, Circuit Court, 5 August 1840

Extradition of JS, Wight, Brown, Pratt, Rigdon, and Baldwin for Treason and Other Crimes, Warren Co., IL, Circuit Court, 10 June 1841

Extradition of JS for Accessory to Assault, U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Illinois, 5 January 1843

Extradition of JS for Treason, Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court, 1 July 1843

State of Illinois v. JS for Assault and Battery, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 1 August 1843

State of Illinois v. JS for Perjury, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, 21 October 1844

State of Illinois v. JS for Adultery and Fornication, 21 October 1844

State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–A, Carthage, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 27 June 1844

State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–B, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 17 June 1844

State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason, Carthage, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 27 June 1844

JS as Witness

State of Illinois v. Owsley, Howard, and Strother, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 11 July 1840

State of Illinois v. Eagle–A, Nauvoo, IL, Mayor’s Court, 25 October 1841

JS as Third Party

State of Illinois v. Tubbs, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 26 July 1842

State of Illinois v. Elliott–A, Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court, 18 December 1843

1
See Fluhman, “A Peculiar People,” 21–48; Oman, “‘Established Agreeable to the Laws of Our Country,’” 202–229; and Farrelly, Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620–1860, chaps. 4–6.
Fluhman, J. Spencer. “A Peculiar People”: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Nineteenth-Century America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
Oman, Nathan B. “‘Established Agreeable to the Laws of Our Country’: Mormonism, Church Corporations, and the Long Legacy of America’s First Disestablishment.” Journal of Law and Religion 36, no. 2 (August 2021): 202–229.
Farrelly, Maura Jane. Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620–1860. Cambridge Essential Histories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
2
An Act Defining the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace and Constables, in Criminal Cases [11 Mar. 1831], Acts of a General Nature, pp. 194–195, secs. 1–7; Practice and Proceedings in Criminal Cases [21 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of Missouri, p. 472, art. 1, sec. 1; pp. 476–477, art. 2, secs. 13–22; An Act to Extend the Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace [29 Dec. 1826], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 414–415, sec. 1; Ohio Constitution of 1802, art. 3, sec. 3; An Act to Establish Judicial Districts and Circuits, and Prescribe the Times and Places of Holding Courts [17 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 163, sec. 15; An Act to Establish Circuit Courts [23 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], pp. 103–105, 108, secs. 1, 4, 9, 18.
Acts of a General Nature, Enacted, Revised and Ordered to Be Reprinted, at the First Session of the Twenty-Ninth General Assembly of the State of Ohio. Columbus: Olmsted and Bailhache, 1831.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly during the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. . . . St. Louis: Argus Office, 1835.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
Ohio Constitution, 1802. Ohio History Connection.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 2nd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1840.
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.
3
Although section 17 of the charter stated that the mayor had “exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the ordinances,” subsequent language in the section indicated that the Nauvoo Municipal Court could hear appeals “from any decision or judgment of said Mayor or Aldermen,” implying that the aldermen also had jurisdiction over alleged breaches of city ordinances. Two surviving legal documents produced by alderman Daniel H. Wells confirm that he operated a court with jurisdiction over alleged breaches of city ordinances. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Complaint, 1 Apr. 1844 [City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee–B]; Docket Entry, 1 Apr. 1844 [City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee–B]; see also Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 13 Nov. 1841, 30; and Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 141–146.)
4
Introduction to State of New York v. JS–A; Introduction to State of New York v. JS–B and State of New York v. JS–C.
5
Introduction to State of Ohio v. D. P. Hurlbut; Introduction to State of Ohio v. JS for Assault and Battery; Introduction to State of Ohio v. JS for Threatening to Take Life.
6
Introduction to State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Riot; Introduction to State of Missouri v. Gates et al. for Treason; Introduction to State of Missouri v. Baldwin et al. for Arson; Introduction to State of Missouri v. Gates et al. for Arson; Introduction to State of Missouri v. Worthington et al. for Larceny and State of Missouri v. JS for Receiving Stolen Goods; Introduction to State of Missouri v. Pratt et al. for Murder.
7
Introduction to Extradition of JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Accessory to Assault; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Treason; The Nauvoo Municipal Court and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
8
Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–A; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–B and City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–C; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Hunter; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Elliott–B.
9
Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS for Fornication and Adultery; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS for Perjury; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–A; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason.
10
Introduction to State of Ohio v. D. P. Hurlbut; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Markham; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–A; Introduction to State of Illinois v. C. L. Higbee; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–C; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Hunter.
11
Introduction to State of Ohio v. Ritch; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Unknown Defendant; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–B; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Dayley and McMellin; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Elliott–B; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Eagle–B; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Sympson.
12
Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS for Assault and Battery.
13
Introduction to State of New York v. JS–A; Introduction to State of New York v. JS–B and State of New York v. JS–C; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–B; Introduction to Extradition of JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Accessory to Assault; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Treason.

Joseph Smith and the Criminal Justice System

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